Keanu
Rell: "Keanu!"
Clarence: "Here kitty, kitty!"
Keanu is directed by Peter Atencio (various Key and Peele sketches) and stars Jordan Peele as Rell Williams, Keegan-Michael Key as Clarence Goobril, Tiffany Haddish as Hi-C, Method Man as Cheddar, Jason Mitchell as Bud, Darrel Brit-Gibson as Trunk, Jamar Malachi Neighbors as Stitches, Will Forte as Hulka, and Luis Guzmán as Bacon.
This is damn near the cutest movie cat I've ever seen!
The story of Keanu starts with Rell (Jordan Peele) at the beginning stages of depression since his girlfriend left him. Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) is the best friend/cousin of Rell who comes over to Rell's house to cheer him up, only to find out that Rell's emotions are already being lifted by a cute kitten who came to his doorstep named Keanu. Being so attached to cute Keanu, Rell freaks out when Keanu has been kitten-napped by a gang. The mission to retrieve Keanu turns to more complicated grounds when Rell and Clarence, normal suburban men, are mistaken for dangerous criminal thugs. Strange and violent situations after strange and violent situations follow in order for Rell to hold his little kitten again.
Hey, if you need to kill someone to see Keanu again, go for it.
Keanu is absurd and you'd know that going in. However, it's a hilariously absurd movie that rides that thin line of being parody-like and a standard comedy/action film, even though it's neither. Right off the bat, I was definitely mesmerized by little Keanu's cuteness and cared for his safety. It's a weird thing to say that if I were in Rel's shoes, I would do the same, because if a pet got me through a deep depression, I would go out of my way to rescue said animal. Still, I don't think I would risk almost getting murdered like 5 times just to keep an animal who is going to be cared for no matter what. That's besides the point though. For this reason of being absolutely absurd, I laughed my ass off during most of the movie. I really have to stress the chemistry that both Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele that made the movie. These guys are one of those comedic duos that work perfectly together in just about everything they do, which is a really hard thing to find nowadays. Yeah, there are the comedic duos that work well together in their performances or directing, but Key and Peele are a special kind of something. It's apparent, even in their interviews, that they feed off of each others energy. Jordan Peele is usually one of those people who aren't as noticeable in other films because he's not as "loud" (personality-wise) as Keegan-Michael Key. In Keanu, he proves that observation wrong. They both carry this movie well enough so that both actors are, in a way, almost like one character.
A beautiful thing to be so close to a friend that you can make a cat rescue movie so great.
There are a lot of gut busting jokes that land when I wasn't expecting much out of it (i.e. there is a recurring joke about a certain vocalist that felt as though it would be an overused joke after the second time it was used. It wasn't. It was used in a smart and effective way that didn't feel old). I can't help but point out that sometimes other jokes fell a little flat, but even then, the film was still intriguing as all hell because it carried on without relaying on a certain type of humor. As I mentioned, Keanu rides the line between parody and funny action movie. That's definitely true as shown by how versatile Key and Peel can work with slapstick humor, raunchy humor, and dialogue-based humor. To add onto that humor variation, all of the secondary characters (especially the thugs working with Rel and Clarence) were utilized well considering that the film was focusing on the comedic duo. Pretty much what I'm saying is that there were no bad performances, overall.
Keanu's calendar filled with other movie references were one of those jokes that hit the mark with me!
While Keanu is an overall fun comedy, there were very minor flaws that included the sometimes "eh" jokes and even some of the action heavy third act of the movie. This third act felt a bit detached from the rest of the film mainly because there were sometimes cartoonish moments with people not dying after getting shot a bunch of times, exaggerated bloodshed, and certain events that leads to no serious consequences. This being said, I can see that Keanu is trying to go for that. I'm repeating it yet again: Key and Peele ride that thin line between parody and standard action comedy well (despite those minor, minor flaws).
Things got crazy during that third act!
As you might realize, Keanu is, yes, technically a parody of Keanu Reeve's film John Wick, even though I said it really isn't. However, it stands as a film all its own with clever humor, (thanks to the chemistry of Key and Peele) and the cuteness of a kitten (although I'm sure they used multiple kittens. Oh, that cinema magic). I enjoyed Keanu for what it was aiming to do and achieved: a fun comedy that you can see with your friends (stoned or not).
4.4/5
PRO
- Comedic chemistry of Key and Peele
- Incorporated different types of humor (raunchy, slapstick, etc.)
- Well-balanced use of cast
- Definitely Keanu the adorable kitten!
- Some jokes feel a little sluggish
- Action oriented third act strays away from the rest of the movie
Keanu is rated R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity
Click here to watch the red band trailer
Keanu is in theaters everywhere now
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